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Paula (L) and Ed Kassig, parents of U.S. aid worker Peter Kassig who was beheaded by Islamic State militants, read from a prepared statement while speaking to the press in Indianapolis, Indiana, November 17, 2014 (Smith/Courtesy Reuters).

Israeli border police officers walks in front of the Dome of the Rock on the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City November 5, 2014 (Awad/Courtesy Reuters).

Significant Developments

Jordan-Israel-Palestine. The Jordanian Minister of Islamic Affairs, Hayel Dawood, accused Israel yesterday of attacking the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem and of causing fire damage “tantamount to state terrorism” and “a violation of Jordan’s peace treaty.” Israeli special forces had stormed the mosque compound firing tear gas, and sparking fires that damaged the building. The accusations follow an earlier decision by Jordan to withdraw its ambassador to Israel for “consultations.” Read more »

A Turkish Kurdish protester throws a tear gas canister back at Turkish soldiers near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the Turkish town of Suruc in southeastern Sanliurfa province October 4, 2014 (Sezer/Courtesy Reuters).

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi addresses the 69th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, September 24, 2014 (Segar/Courtesy Reuters).

International efforts to combat ISIS dominated the recent debate in New York when world leaders converged for the UN General Assembly’s sixty-ninth session. Middle East Matters has excerpted passages from regional leaders, all of whom spoke about the ISIS challenge, though in markedly different ways. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and this summer’s fighting also featured heavily, with most speeches specifically calling for the Gaza strip to be rebuilt. Read more »

A pair of U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles fly over northern Iraq after conducting airstrikes in Syria, in this U.S. Air Force handout photo taken early in the morning of September 23, 2014 (Matthew Bruch/Courtesy Reuters).